WAUSAU – Jesse Hackbarth scrutinized the climbing wall, looking at the handholds, trying to figure out the best way to get to the top.

The wall is in the center of the midway of the carnival of the Wausau Area 4th of July Celebration at Marathon Park. It's a two-plus-story, bumpy thumb sticking out of the ground, with hand- and toeholds scattered across the surface. At the top of the structure, there are a series of little red buttons. Pay $5, climb the wall and push one of them, you win $100.

It was pleasantly warm at the carnival Saturday afternoon, with puffy clouds floating above. The fireworks held Thursday and Friday nights were over, and the midway was mostly populated with families and teens looking to spend a lazy afternoon playing games, sliding down slides and riding rides such as the Tilt-A-Whirl.

The climbing wall is different from most of the games on the midway because it requires both technique and strength, where other games require hand-eye coordination, a certain amount of savvy skill and, maybe most of all, luck. The climbing wall attracts athletes and confident people or kids with a sense of adventure.

"I'm pretty athletic, man," Hackbarth said. The 20-year-old Wausau man's judgment about the wall was that it wouldn't be easy, but it was doable, and he'd be $95 richer once he got to the top. Jesse was at the carnival with his sister, Alessandra Hackbarth, 22, and she wasn't so sure there was any way to get to the top of the wall.

"Oh, it's possible," said the woman taking tickets and running the wall. "We had several people do it."

Jesse watched 11-year-old Emmy Gardner make her attempt to get to the top of the structure. The Wausau girl scampered about three-quarters of the way up, and then got stumped. She tried to grab underneath one hold, but her hand slipped off. She had to abandon the effort.

People climbed the wall at the Wausau Area 4th of July Celebration to win $100. They found frustration, instead.
Video by Keith Uhlig

"My arm got burnt right about here," she said, pointing to her forearm after she was back on the ground. "Well, not burnt, but super stressed out. So I couldn't make it. I had to give up."

Jesse is 6 feet tall and has a powerful build. He lifts weights. "I can do 15 pull-ups in row, no problem," he said.

But when he got to the same point Emmy did, about three-quarters the way up, he could not find a handhold. He looked to his left, and his right. He moved downward, then tried a different line.

"Not going to happen," he called out, and then climbed down.

Alessandra still was skeptical about the whole endeavor, wondering again if it's possible to reach the top.

"You'd have to be really tall," Jesse said. "Man, I thought all that gym work would pay off."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651. Find him on Twitter as @UhligK.

If you go

The Wausau Area 4th of July Celebration continues through today at Marathon Park in Wausau.